Misconceptions
by Graywhisper
Summary: My second challenge for ImagineClan, Eyes of Stone! R&R?


**So! My **_**second**_** challenge for ImagineClan! I'll be a warrior in no time! ;3 I'm warning you though- this one is longer than all my regular one-shots. **

**Misconceptions**

Rippleflower pulled herself out of the warriors' den, sneezing as snowflakes fell on her muzzle. Her heart fell with dismay as she waded through thick snow banks. Wouldn't leaf-bare ever be over? New-leaf was overdue, and RiverClan needed it desperately. _Rippleflower_ needed it desperately. New kits only had a small chance of surviving in a leaf-bare so bleak and cold, so Rippleflower would try and wait until new-leaf before moving to the nursery. RiverClan could use any extra paws, and Rippleflower was perfectly willing to help.

She purred softly when she thought of the growing lives inside of her. She padded over to the medicine den so Creamfoot could make sure they were okay.

"Don't strain yourself." The medicine cat purred, gently but firmly. "You really should move to the nursery, but the Clan comes first, and the Clan needs help. So I won't try to persuade you. Just be careful, Rippleflower."

Rippleflower purred and dipped her head in thanks, leaving the medicine den. She spotted Fishshadow and Specklenose over by the camp entrance, waiting in the snow. She padded over.

"Mind if I join?" She purred quietly.

"Sure." Specklenose mewed quietly, her ear flicking under the deluge of snowflakes. Fishshadow stared at her quietly, with an almost accusing gaze. Rippleflower dipped her head in thanks to Specklenose, letting Fishshadow's glare slide off her pelt. She would refuse to be bothered.

"Snagclaw will be joining us as well." Fishshadow murmured in an almost threatening tone. Rippleflower ignored this as well. Sure Snagclaw bothered her, but she would let nothing get in the way of helping her Clan.  
Soon, Snagclaw slid out of the warrior's den, his pelt ruffled. He didn't bother to smooth it out, choosing instead to pass by Rippleflower, his lip curling, and lead the patrol out of camp.

Rippleflower flattened her ears from the snow. She opened her mouth to try to scent some prey, the speckles of ice melting in her mouth, causing tiny pinpricks of cold. She ignored them, intent on finding a bit of prey to bring back to the Clan.

After a bit, she scented a warm body, a water vole, nibbling anxiously on a seed near the frozen water's edge. She swiped her tongue over her muzzle, her stomach rumbling with an achy sort of hunger. Slipping into the hunter's crouch, she stalked forward, wincing as snow crunched under her paws. The vole didn't seem to notice, too caught up in his tiny meal to be on alert.

She took a deep breath before launching herself at the vole. It looked up and darted away as she missed by more than a tail-length. Rippleflower hissed, scraping her claws in the snow at her careless mistake. She heard a tiny squeak and turned her head to see, and she saw Snagclaw giving her a nasty glare with the vole hanging limp from his jaws. Her pelt burned with embarrassment, and she looked away, ears flat. She listened as he padded away before returning her gaze to the ground in front of her. She winced at a painful reminder of her failure- the vole's seed lying in the snow.

Rippleflower padded away, having to shake the intensifying snow from her face to see. After a while of her frustratingly slow progress, barely able to see the ground around her, she slipped away, making her way back to the clearing the patrol had agreed to meet in before they returned to camp. Her pelt prickled at the thought of returning empty-pawed, but she had no choice. It was pointless to stumble around blindly in the snow. All the prey must be feeling the same way.

She entered the clearing, her paws heavy with defeat.

Maybe a little _too _heavy.

She took a step and the snow around her gave way, causing her to fall into the snow up to her shoulders. She yelped from the sudden, numbing, cold and attempted to claw her way out, only succeeding in making her more stuck, sinking to her neck. She calmed herself down, seemingly safe in the knowledge that the patrol would return and help her.

Sure enough, she soon spotted three shadowy outlines enter the clearing. One pricked its ears and tried to rush forward, but the one slightly ahead of it held out its tail to stop it. They came slightly closer, and Rippleflower realized Snagclaw had stopped Specklenose from rushing ahead. Fishshadow was still a shadowy outline, his ears flat.

Snagclaw bared his teeth at the pregnant warrior. "We don't need greedy prey-stealers like you in our Clan. Every bit of prey counts, and we don't need you nabbing it all, especially in such a hard time. That's why we're leaving you here."

Rippleflower was too shocked to defend herself. This was the reason for all the hatred? The dirty looks, the angry glares? Rippleflower shook her head, a stone-cold demeanor masking her emotions. She watched and said nothing as Snagclaw led the patrol out of the clearing.

Just like that, Rippleflower was left by her Clan-mates in the snow to die.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Whiteclaw paced, his hackles raised. Snow was coming down hard, but he would not rest until his mate, Rippleflower, was warm and safe in the nursery. Today he was putting his paw down, and she was moving to the nursery. Whiteclaw would not rest until she was warm, full, and safe, in camp.

He ran over to the camp entrance when he saw Snagclaw pad in. Specklenose and Fishshadow followed him, but no Rippleflower.

"Where's Rippleflower?" Whiteclaw demanded. "She was on your patrol, right?"

Snagclaw flicked his tail with disdain. "She _was_ on my patrol." He mewed distastefully. "But she fell in the snow and I left her there. She may be your mate, but we don't need fat prey-hogs like her in the Clan; not at a time like this. The Clan comes first, yes? So just leave her."

Whiteclaw was shocked. "Fat prey-hog?" He snarled. "She's pregnant, you fox-heart!"

Snagclaw looked surprised for less than a second before he covered it up. "Good." He growled back. "I hate kits. Your kits would be even worse."

Whiteclaw crouched and leaped onto Snagclaw, surprising the other tom and pinning him to the snowy floor.

"This is for what happened to her." He snarled. He brought his paw back, and with as much force as he could manage, Whiteclaw brought it smashing down, clawing at Snagclaw's ear and all surrounding it. He then jumped backwards, turning and leaving camp, intent on finding his pregnant mate. Behind him, Snagclaw was still.

He raced into the blizzard, wind shrieking furiously and covering his face with snow. He shook it off angrily and continued running. Whiteclaw checked all the major hunting areas, carefully scenting out each clearing before dashing away to the next one, grinding his teeth with frustration when he didn't find her. His hope was fading quickly, and his heart ached with loss.

Whiteclaw trudged his was into the last place he could think of: a small, almost abandoned clearing near the border with ShadowClan. He scanned it quickly but carefully, walking to the middle and turning in a circle.

Nothing.

Disappointed, Whiteclaw began to leave the clearing, his tail dragging in the snow, whimpering slightly. He felt his tail bump over something- something cold. He twisted around to find out what.

Was that a- muzzle?

Rippleflower! Whiteclaw unsheathed his claws and began to claw furiously at the snow. His mate was buried under there! AND his unborn kits! Even in his fit of anger and frustration, one thing was clear to Whiteclaw.

Snagclaw had gotten off way too easy.

He uncovered up to her swollen belly, where he grasped her scruff in his teeth and pulled, sending snow everywhere and himself and mate sprawling backwards.

He growled in anger, grabbing Rippleflower's scruff again and trying to lift her frozen and unconscious body off the ground.

To no avail. Rippleflower was extra-heavy; he couldn't lift her all the way off the ground. Not even as full of adrenaline and anger as he was. Grunting angrily, he started dragging her to camp.

Suddenly Specklenose was next to him. He nearly dropped his mate in his surprise and anger, but he managed to keep his grip.

"What do you want?!" He snarled through Rippleflower's scruff.

"I-I'm sorry." She mewed, looking at her paws, abashed. "I didn't know that Rippleflower was pregnant, or I would have helped! So all I want to do now is help."

Whiteclaw narrowed his eyes. Could he trust her? He could use the help, and Specklenose did sound sincere enough…

"Fine." He growled. "Help me carry her back to camp." Specklenose wasn't the strongest warrior, but maybe she could provide the last bit of lift he needed to get Rippleflower's hind legs off the ground.

Sure enough, their combined strength was enough to get Rippleflower away from the snow. Slowly but surely, they carried her back to camp. Whiteclaw dragged her to the medicine den while Specklenose stayed to catch her breath.

Creamfoot was shocked when he brought in her stiff body.

"I told her to take it easy!" Creamfoot exclaimed, bustling about her den. "Put her in that nest and lay next to her to warm her up."

Whiteclaw did as he was told, flinching as his warm fur touched her cold body. What would happen to Rippleflower?  
**XxXxXxX**

Rippleflower slid out of the warriors den. The sky was light gray with the signs of coming dawn. She was the first up for dawn patrol, like every time. She settled near the camp entrance for the other members of the patrol to wake up.

While she waited, she thought. Creamfoot probably wanted to talk to her again today… but Rippleflower wanted nothing to do with that. Creamfoot just wanted her to talk about her thoughts, feelings, and memories, which did nothing but make Rippleflower sad. All she wanted was to be left alone. She didn't want to remember the day that ruined her life, the day that had made her the cat she was today. It hadn't even been that long- the pain was still fresh. Why couldn't the medicine cat just leave her be?

She was jostled out of her thoughts by something pushing against her leg. She looked down to see a little gray-blue kit, looking up at her with wide green eyes.

"Hi!" He greeted.

Rippleflower looked down at him with no emotion. What was a kit doing out of the nursery so early..? She didn't respond.

"You must be Rippleflower." The tom kit said, meeting her gaze with unwavering eyes. "Mommy told me you don't talk anymore, and that I shouldn't try to talk to you."

The she-cat was shocked. What queen had been telling the kits this? It may have been true, but still… Whatever. It wasn't like she cared. She said nothing in response.

"So you won't talk?" the blue kitten asked again. "Not even to me?" He sounded disappointed.

Rippleflower said nothing.

The kit pushed against her leg again. "If you never talk, that means you must be a good listener. My mommy tells me I should listen better."

No response.

"I-" The kit started again, but was quickly cut off.

"Bluekit! What are you doing out of the nursery so early?" Came a panicked voice. Rippleflower turned her head to look.

Specklenose.

"Coming mommy!" Bluekit squeaked. "I was just talking to Rippleflower." The tiny blue kit dashed off, Specklenose quickly following him into the nursery.

Rippleflower attempted to wrap her head around what she's just heard.

Specklenose had kits? And she was telling them to avoid her?

It wasn't so much the second part that bothered Rippleflower- but the fact that Specklenose had kits. Then she _really_ realized what this meant.

Rippleflower felt like someone had just pushed her over the edge of a giant pit. A sense if despair, of falling, of death.

Not fair, not fair. This wasn't fair. The wall Rippleflower had so carefully built to keep away the memories crumbled away into a million pieces. The unwanted knowledge flooded against her, no matter how hard she tried to stem the flow.

Snagclaw, Specklenose, and Fishshadow- all walking away from her- stuck in the snow. Waking up in the medicine den. Being told Snagclaw had been banished. And the most crushing news of all- that her kits would never come.

At first she had been devastated. But she wouldn't show it. Nothing. She promised herself she would show nothing anymore. Not a speck of emotion. At first Whiteclaw was with her- but after a moon or so, he recovered. This was one of the reasons Rippleflower had picked him- his amazing ability to bounce back. Now Rippleflower sorely wished she had this ability. Then maybe remembering wouldn't be so bad.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trembling. Screw the dawn patrol, she needed to get away. She blindly made her way out of camp, running. She didn't know where she would end up, or how long she would run- but it didn't matter. All that mattered was she needed to get away. To forget and lose herself.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

She woke up with Whiteclaw's face right in front of hers. He looked incredibly sad and upset. She blinked at him.

"Rippleflower." He mewed quietly. "You can't do this to yourself. Stop it."

She blinked again. She knew what Whiteclaw said, but she had no desire to acknowledge it.

"Rippleflower." He meowed again. "I need you. I need you back."

Now she was sad, too. She still loved her mate, but she didn't know or care about anything else. Not anymore.

She looked around. She realized they were in a heavily forested area. Not RiverClan.

"Rippleflower, you ran all the way out of Clan territory." He mewed. "Come on, we have a long walk back to camp."

She stood up, wobbling slightly. She would follow Whiteclaw; listen as he spoke to her.

"Is there anything I can do to make you better?" Whiteclaw mewed, sounding frustrated. "I just wish you would come back to me. You are not being the Rippleflower I know and love."

She frowned. What could she do?

"Rippleflower, if you still love me, tell me so." Whiteclaw said softly.

She still loved Whiteclaw. Of that she was sure. She opened her mouth, trying to get the words to come out. Trying to remember how to speak.

"I-" She managed to croak out rustily. Her voice was rough from moons of disuse. "I still love you, Whiteclaw."

He purred and smiled, wrapping his tail around her. "I'm glad."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

As Rippleflower and Whiteclaw walked home, they talked. And Rippleflower opened a little more. Whiteclaw spent all his spare moments with his mate. All the time he could ever spare, he would spend with her. And everyday, she regained a sliver of emotion. And she became closer to her mate. And then, when moons had passed, she had kits. She fully came back that day, at the sight of her two strong tom kits and her one beautiful she-kit. They were perfect in every way she could ever imagine.

**Reviews would be nice. ;3 I did spend a lot of time and thought on this, so don't think this was easy for me to write. :0 **

_**-Graywhisper **_


End file.
